NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - The Top 101 Free Agents of 2025!

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero to react to Gregg's Top 101 NFL Free Agents list. Before the Top 101, Gregg and Tom get caught up on news from around the NFL including the latest on Matthew Stafford and the Rams (02:30), the Jaguars hiring James Gladstone as their new GM (09:30), the Saints hiring Brandon Staley as their new DC (13:10), players to watch at the combine (16:30), and more! After the break, the guys break down Gregg's Top 101 Free Agents, including his top-10 (20:49), a look the quarterbacks (26:00), a deep defensive pool (34:40), and wide receivers available (39:20).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we might have to make it the top 100 and two free agents of 2025. I am Greg Roosevelt. I am here in Indianapolis at the scouting combine in a half-full convention center where everyone is setting up for the big day where it starts tomorrow. And I am joined for the first time on NFL Daily, excited to do so with Tom Pellasero, our insider at NFL Network alongside Ian Rappaport. What's up? Hey, happy to be here. Glad that I get to make my debut.

Great to see you live and in person. You know, it's always fun to get to get to get out of the basement studio and see people. It is nice to do that. And yes, you are kind of the yin to rapaports, Yang. You know, I've been here at the NFL for over a decade, and I've seen the rise of Pelliserra. How is everything going just with you in rap sheet? Because that's a tricky relationship to work out.

You know, both being inside. Yeah, we kind of find, along with Mike, you know, ways that we can, you know, be able to stave off the fights. Like, if you've noticed in the past month, there's a lot of sources tell the insides. or per the insiders in the tweets. And that was a catch-all that came out of, okay, when in down, just say that, and we'll fight over credit later.

I suppose, how did you leave me off? So we're trying to, like, stave off those fights. I think it's gone pretty well so far. You guys are killing it. We got to get a handle at some point for that. But, you know, yeah, per the insiders, that's the backstory on that, is it's just to keep me from strangling them.

So you are joining us on a big day in NFL daily in the off season, which is the day NFL.com releases my top. 1-1-free agents, which I put a lot of... Which, by the way, I said the other day during the production call for the insiders, I'm like, is Greg's list all the yet? They said he hasn't published it yet. I'm like, well, then what are we supposed to put on the graphics? You're the, you're the Oracle of these are the names.

Well, they're out there now, and so you can check that out on NFL.com. And I thought you will know this list in the players and the agents and the values better than anyone, so I was excited to have you on for that. I mentioned, by the way, we might have to go to 102 because I saw what PFF did. I always made it 101 because I just thought it had a snappy ring to it. Also, one more than 100. Every other site's got 100 just shows we're working a little bit harder. And now I noticed PFF made theirs 101 too.

They just didn't. It's a straight knockoff. So I might just have to go to 102. But we're going to do some news before we get into the 101. And I wanted to start with something you spoke about on the Rich Eisen Show on Friday. It was really the first time it was out. out there, it was interesting because I was like, shouldn't this be like breaking news on NFL network?

We had that conversation in the group got, too. Listen, there are some things. I know you're getting at Matthew Stafford. So there are some things, and this is like a broader, I could do an hour on this, I won't. But there are some stories that I don't think are necessarily conducive to tweet format. Yes. This was one of those where we were going to talk about on the insiders and then the clock ran out and yada, yada. And then Rich asked me about it straight off.

And I had the wrong time zone on my phone. So I was at a Pilate studio, not a dungeon, just for anybody who looked at the quality of that video. He asked me about it. And what I tried to convey was, yes, they've given permission to Matthew Savage's agent, Jimmy Sexton, to talk to other teams. This is not a, we're demanding a trade. It was a, hey, go out and see. All right, because Matthews do $27 million this year, including a $4 million bonus that's due in about a month. That was a product and part of when they redid his deal last year.

He got a raise in 2024. Felt like a Band-Aid last year. But gave up his future guarantees, which made very clear this is a year-to-year type of format. So now he plays well. They took the Eagles to the limit in the playoffs. They got a young roster. Stafford's sitting there going, I'm making 27. They're literally guys who are making double that who have not accomplished what I have

and are not as good of players as I am. We've got to adjust this. So there's sometimes it's this dance. you're negotiating in a vacuum and there's off the record calls. They're just like, just do it. You know, frankly, you know, no one said this to me, but it's kind of like you're going to get this information anyway, so just go ahead, talk to the other teams, figure out what they'd be willing to do in a, you know, for a contract, which serves two purposes.

One, it allows you to make progress in terms of if you are going to do a trade, you have to do the contracts. You get that out of the way. Yes. But it also allows the Rams to go, okay, here's what the other teams would be willing to offer. Are we willing to go there? There is a number at which, I don't believe the Rams.

would want to go past for Matthew Stafford from a pure football perspective and I know you like to watch tape and like digging the football, I don't look at the other options to go, boy, Matthew Stafford would be better off going to the Giants or the Raiders. The Rams have Sean McVeigh. They're in

a division that they just won. They do have young talent, albeit they got some transition they've got to go through on the offensive side. Why would he want to go else for? And the honest answer is, to the later stages of your career, you want your contract to reflect the value that you bring, the Rams are trying to figure out

how do we build a championship caliber team and so they're trying to get all the answers, get all the cards on the table, and make decisions which could come sooner than later. This week will be really interesting. And no, I'm glad you brought it up with Rich. You'll appreciate these texts that I just looked at. I thought maybe I had an urge Matthews to

every text. It's no. It's my wife. Is Teigen still grounded? And then Teigen, am I still grounded? You're still grounded. Dang. What time is this going to pass? What'd they do? What'd they do? She thought it was funny to play a joke on me. said she was biking to Culver's with her friends, which is two miles away and across a very busy road.

Okay. While I was at swim lessons with the other kid, and dad was not pleased. Okay, but she didn't actually do it? We may come off. When this gets appealed to the appeals officer in the house, my wife, it'll probably get knocked down from the month to something more palatable. That's harsh. So Stafford, it's fascinating to me.

It really does seem like it's about money, and there's always more to it. We don't need to get into that with you here. But another one of our colleagues, it's confusing how the insider gang. you know, works. But Schrager mentioned a number, something about like $50 million. Pete Schrager for Fox and Twitter that maybe that's what he's seeking. And if it is something that the Rams are not willing to go that high, I don't think personally he will have that hard of time finding an organization that will. I do think that would be an appropriate market for Matthew Stafford. The Giants make some sense to me on paper. The Raiders make a little sense to me on

paper, do you have any teams that you think have actually expressed interest or would make the most sense? I'd say the Giants and the Raiders make a lot of sense for those teams. Again, does it make sense for Matthew Stafford to go into the NFC East behind an offensive line that still needs work? He's got receivers. He has some, you know, Malik neighbors and some young talent on the roster, but you're going to go up and compete with Philly and even Washington and Dallas. If you have a feeling that the Rams don't really, really want you, or maybe this is solid negotiation where, okay, I'll take X amount less from the Rams to play for the Rams, but not, you know, everything. Or there's more to it, and he just feels like the time is out.

Basically, by my count, there's nine or ten teams that are going to get a starting quarterback in this cycle. So you can go down the list. Tennessee, does that make sense? I don't really foresee them going that direction. Cleveland, I don't see it. The Giants, it does make sense, get instant credibility, give you a chance to not show up with a knife to a gunfight in the division. to try to get him in. I think they're a little more turnkey than other people, probably. They've got some really good players. For a playoff spot with Matthew Stafford.

I don't think they're a bad team. They've got pieces. I mean, Dexter Lawrence and the league neighbors, Tyrone Tracy, I know nobody wants to talk about it because of what Seeklon did, he did run for 1,000 yards last year. They have to get some highly drafted offensive linemen playing better or playing at all. That would certainly help. There's some adjustment to do.

But, okay, so the Giants would be a possibility. You keep making your way through the draft. I'm doing this off the top of my head. the Raiders are another team that needs a starting quarterback. I do think that adding a veteran, when you hire Pete Carroll, you're not going, this is going to be a four-year build. He's got like a three-year contract.

So you're thinking you're trying to win. I think that that makes sense for them. Go down to the bottom of the draft order. Obviously, going back to the Rams makes sense. The Vikings are going to be a really alluring place to whoever. I don't foresee that being how this plays out because then you're talking about giving up assets

where they don't have a lot of draft picks this year either. giving up assets to bring in a veteran quarterback when you've got J.J. McCarty there. Probably not something they're going to do, but that's a spot people are going to want to go to. Pittsburgh is another one. I think the Matthew Stafford and Pittsburgh would make a ton of sense. Again, when you look at the caliber of quarterbacks in the division, but is that a place that Matthew Stafford and his family want to go? It's not exactly New York or Vegas when you're coming from L.A.

from just an environment perspective. So I think I'm missing one or two more. I mean, Indianapolis has to figure out how they're going to put together that room this year with Anthony Richardson. Yeah, he can't be there with a top 10 pick. You're not bringing in Matthew Stafford in that situation. So I think I'm missing somebody else. But basically, those are the teams. And you can pretty quickly kind of whittle away a bunch of those teams as like what the real possibilities are.

It's fascinating. I personally, I'm not putting words in your mouth, think the hay's a little out of the barn here. And I do think something's going to happen. I hope it happens this week, just for content's sake. We're going to have on a new general manager to the NFL. Since we've last taped NFL Daily, a man named James Gladstone became the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. I bring his name up like that because he's not someone that many people outside of the league would possibly know who he is. Frankly, he's not a guy who people inside the league know that well.

I talked to a couple teams and they were like, they hired who? He was an assistant with the Rams. His title was the director of scouting strategy, kind of a right-hand man. man of less need, but in a creative sort of more less formal role with the Rams than maybe like a director of college scouting or pro personnel or anything like that, which is often the guys who get to GM. So he's joining us on NFL Daily on Tuesday. We're talking to three GMs. I'm excited about that. I just wanted your thoughts on that. He spoke kind of a non-traditional, very young hire for the Jaguars. It is.

It's somebody that Liam Cohen has a familiarity with from their days with the Rams. And obviously he was impressed by him. I saw Liam said some stuff about watching him navigate undrafted free agency and some of the things that he did in that area. He does have a football background. This is not a pure quantitative hire. He was a high school football coach. So like there was literally less needs sons, high school football coach.

Correct. Back in St. Louis. So this is like the closest thing I would say is this is almost like a baseball or basketball hire, where you get somebody who is purely from an analytic background. Although, again, he does have some football. That's why I even bring it up. It's not as if he came from, you know, video games and now is the GM of the Jaguars. And so there's some of that that Tony Khan, I'm sure, appreciates, given what his background is and his role within the organization, he's got another really smart

dude that he can work with. And obviously, there's a trust factor there with Liam. But you're right. And this is nothing against James Gladstone, who I don't know personally. I got his number, send him a text after he got the job like, hi, good to meet you. But he's definitely not a known commodity within the league. And so, you know, like with any of these things, it's like you've got to get the right staff around him. You got to get the right scouts in place.

I would also remind people of this. Shod Khan never wanted to fire Tramp Balke. Shot Khan thinks Trent Balke built a really good roster. Shot Khan thinks Tramp Alki built a really good football operation in the systems. So now with a guy who comes from a very very good football operation in the systems. who comes from a very different background into this environment, does he have the power to say what a lot of quantitative people would, which is we should probably, to get this thing right for the long haul, trade some of the highly paid guys who have significant value, or do you come in

and go, well, we're not going to rock the boat because we've got to win. That's the mandate here from ownership that we got a team that can win now. And I'm just, I don't have the answer for that. I think it's a fascinating sub-storyline. This is a guy who's never done a trade, presumably. I'm sure he's consulted on trades. He's never done a trade. He's never picked a player. There's a lot of GMs who come in who have varying levels of experience in that, but his background is going to be a little bit different. And so who are the people in the organization he leans on? Well, I'll check out his vibe on Tuesday. We also have Ryan Poles, by the way. Check out our show on Tuesday coming on the general manager of the Bears and the new Raiders GM, John SpyTech.

And yeah, I mean, I kind of just look at the salary structure. That tells you a lot. Liam Cohn is one of the highest paid new coaches ever. And one of the higher paid coaches in the league, period. And so he's got a lot of juice. I doubt James Gladstone is. He is, he, it's ultimately kind of like a coach-centric situation. You also have Tony Bisselli, who helped with the hiring, who was part of the press conference. Some news that also went down and we'll get to the 101 shortly.

Brandon Staley was hired as the Saints defensive coordinator. We talked about that potential hire coming up. cuts have started around the NFL, just kind of mentioning this time of year has started happened. So the bear is cut to Marcus Walker, Gerald Everett, some other cuts, the Bengals, Sheldon Rankins, Juan Thornhill. Shaq Thompson of the Panthers was made aware that they're not going to resign him in for agency. That was a little weird. Yeah, I mean, they're trying to give them like the nice send-off. But yeah, it's like, I don't know we need to, they got to do what they want to do. And, you know, they're just like, don't be mad at us. We're not going to resign him.

Free agent about to hit free agency, we'd run out of time if we hit all those. Jack Thompson, Greg, I was there the night the night he was drafted. I was in the green room. A great Carolina Panther over the last handful of years. But I did want to hit before we get to the 101. Some of the early news coming out of Indianapolis, the Rules Committee has met. They are talking about potentially doing a fourth and 15 or fourth and 20 situation instead of an onside kick. there was a report

that banning the tushbush has been brought off some speculation. That's a team, so that's a team proposal. Yes. Usually the team proposals unless they are co-opted by the competition committee don't get through. We'll see. I mean, it's been an ongoing thing. Like you watch it is that a football player, is it rugby?

I think there's an intellectual discussion, but of course everyone's just going to go, oh, you can't stop. Now they won the Super Bowl. Well, yes. It's funny, though, because they didn't say who it was an unnamed owner, but one of the owners on the committee is Mark Murphy, an acting owner, and he has said publicly many times in like fans Q&A, he's said it outright that he wants it, you know, ban. So it sounds like it's

probably Mark Murphy. And with regard to the fourth and 15 or fourth and 20 alternative, do you think that could actually happen? That's been proposed. The Eagles are proposing that for like five years. Every year, it's on the docket. It's never, I don't believe it's, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe it's ever gone to a vote. It's been brought up. It has gotten on to the list that they talk about in March when these things. are voted upon. The issue with it is just like, is it gimmicky? For me,

I am simultaneously a traditionalist and a capitalist. The traditionalist in me says, the onside kick, like it's such a, it's a weird play, but it's like a uniquely football play. I wish the percentages were higher, but like I don't want to totally replace

that. On the other hand, the capitalist in me goes, shouldn't we have like the best players on every team deciding the biggest moment and not like... Yeah. Not Nick Folk. Right. And... Nothing against Nick Folk. I'm just saying.

The idea would be, yeah, instead of going for an onside kick, you would get to attempt a fourth and 15 or... Make it take it. Or fourth and 20. Right. I think tried at fourth and 20 for a year. See how it goes. The NFL evolved as it turned to the league that we know now by trying out different things like this. So I like it. They are also, and this I think is more likely to happen in the long run,

conversation about either moving a touchback up to the 35-yard line to encourage more kickoff returns or just move the kickoff back five yards from where the kicker kicks it, which would also potentially have more return. So we will see if any of those things happen. Before I get off the combine, though, no Shudor Sanders doing workouts, no Ashton Genti. You follow this stuff so closely. I don't, I'm just curious, since you're on the show here and we're in Indianapolis, Like, is, are there any guys that you're looking for? Are there any, like, on-field combine type of stories that are front of mind for you this week as, like, an insider? Well, the first thing I would say is we always talk a lot about the guys who aren't doing anything.

Yeah. It's like a very, very small number. It's like a dozen of the top guys won't work out. There's like 370-something prospects here. I mentioned those two names because they are about as familiar as any in the world. And they're going to do stuff with their pro day. Cam Ward, as of now, is undecided from what I was told. I talked to his quarterbacks coach a short time ago.

He's figuring out if he wants to do it. I'm sure we'd all love to see Cammore. The rest of the quarterbacks, Jackson Dart is going to throw. Jalen Milrow is going to throw. You'll see all those guys. Guys, I'm looking forward to seeing in the drills. I mean, I think that the quarterbacks, because QB3, or in some people's minds, can you even vault up and be QB2,

QB1 in this draft, whatever it is. That next group of quarterbacks is really interesting to me. We saw a lot of them at the Senior Bowl, Milrow and Dart and those guys, Riley Leonard, were all there. But there's some guys we haven't. We haven't seen Quinn Ewers on the field. Tyler Shuck people, a lot of buzz, first round buzz. Tyler Shuck.

I mean, when Tyler Shuck isn't, you know, I said something to him at the Senior Bowl about, like, you know, you've dealt with a bunch of major injuries. Like, well, not major injuries. It's just broken bones and stuff. I'm like, that's a major injury to me. Yeah. Missed a lot of time. But, like, he looks good on the field.

I think that's a really good story on him. I think that the entire wide receiver group, because it's regarded as a down year. By the way, I just got a text was Green Bay that reposed that to his person. It is confirmed. It is confirmed. The wide receiver group, there's not those top, top-end guys. You're not going to see the really, really, you know, top-five, top-10 type guys. But that also creates some variants where, let's say, to give you a name, Matthew Golden from Texas.

Does he come out here and light it up? And all of a sudden, we're talking about him as being first-second wide receiver off the board. Like, that's entirely possible. And then I'm also just, you know, it's always about who the fiscal freaks are going to be, the test off the chart. Right. Who are some you think? Shamar Stewart, the test. Texas A&M Edge.

He was also another senior bowl guy. I stood next to him. He is built like Judevian Clowny. If you can just envision what he looks like, I 've been told based on what he's doing in terms of his combine training, like he's testing like he might test like Trayvon Walker. He's a little bit taller than Trayvon Walker, who

was number one overall, the head of Aden Hutchinson in the draft not that long ago based largely on the testing numbers. I think that he's definitely one to watch. And then I'll give you a 40-yard blazer, Maxwell Hirsten the corner from Kentucky super engaging bright dude

that I've talked to can really play but he's also like he's legit fast fast and it's going to be interesting to see what he runs Yeah no one expected Xavier Worthy to go

first round at this time last year Yeah We haven't gotten too deep into the prospect but Shamar Stewart's really interesting I like hearing how different evaluators

talk about him Daniel Jeremiah I know he put it but his top 50 check that out today in terms of prospects Samar Stewart is 28th like he's a guy who's going to get compared to Trayvon Walker

because of the low sack total and he's just a physical freak but there are people that say like this guy really doesn't know how to play football very well yet which I don't think they were saying about Trayvon Walker like he is someone that is the ultimate like it's going to be a test of do you draft the guy just off of measurements or not like he could go anywhere from the top 10 to the second round and there are people that will say like

man maybe it'll happen but he'll like doesn't really know how to play yet, but we'll see. You kind of reminds me of, now, Will McDonald was in a category of his own, like the dude who would jump over cars from Iowa State, and it was like, is he a one, is he like a, he'd go in the second, and he went like to the Jets at, what, 18th overall or something? It was like a, no, 13th overall? He went very high in that draft. Like, that might be the type of guy you get with, with Shamar Stewart.

And, yeah, Will McDonnell's gotten better as we go. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that?

Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus we dig in the coaching strategies, roster

construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Okay, enough.

You know, preamble here. Let's get to the top 101 free agents of 2025. I wish I could still mess around and just keep changing the rankings. I am someone that understands this is a fun exercise. It's just opinion, and it changed so much on a daily basis that it would continue to change if I was allowed to keep changing it. But now it's locked in. My editors say I cannot change it. Here are the top 10 free agents.

I'm not going to go through all 101, of course. I will do the top 10. The top 10, T. Higgins, who we think is going to get franchise tagged. We'll not get to free agency bar in a surprise. But yes, clearly the top receiver. He could get traded. Trey Smith, I've already gotten some pushback on this number two. Milton Williams 3, who had a great playoff run with the Eagles.

A lot of Eagles up top. Ronnie Stanley 4. Zach Bond coming off a career year at number 5. Sam Darnold at 6. Osa, a digizua, at number 7. Josh Sweat from the Eagles at 8. Chris Godwin at 9. And Carlton Davis starts off a run of cornerbacks.

Charverius Ward and DJ Reed are the next two guys on my list in the top 12. There's a bunch of top corners. I looked at the list. I think that, you know, in general terms, like you're on it here. Trey Smith will be interesting because if the chiefs don't franchise tag him, does that kind of signal, then are they not as fired up about him as other teams might be looking at him? I mean, there's not a lot of guards. There's not a lot of offense alignment. There's not a lot of offensive players.

Which you have Ronnie Stanley with his injury history in the top five on the list. He was healthy this year. But he had missed a ton of time over the previous two or three. three seasons. But I'm with you. I mean, it would not be a surprise if he ends up being the top paid tackle. Zach Martin's retirement took another option where Zach Martin wanted to play. Somebody would have given them $15 million to, you know, come in. I think that, you know, one of the interesting things, and this probably speaks to the perception within the league about the quality of the free agent class, those names,

those are your top 10 free agents here. It's not as star-studded. But also, think how few franchise tags are even possible off that list. I mean, T is going to get it. if they can't work out a deal, which we'll see how that plays out, but it seems like the tag is coming for him. Trey Smith, maybe. It's at least a possibility that the Chiefs could potentially explore. Sam Darnold, you can't rule out him getting tagged at this point. That could be a tag to sign.

That could be a tag in a hour later. He's in the parking lot signing it to make sure he locks in his $40 million for this year. That's a good idea. There's a lot of different ways that this thing could go. And then also O'Digizua, I think you would at least make the case that maybe you could franchise tag in, but with the Cowboys and their current financial situation, you know, capitalized, I don't really see that happening. So I think that the two defensive tackles that get paid are the two guys you got up there, Odigi Zua and Milton Williams.

We've seen crazy defensive tackle numbers. If both those guys got 20 plus a year, I wouldn't be shocked. Oh, yeah. I'm expecting it for Milton Williams. I'm not sure what the market is for Odigizua, but he's a good player who has gotten better and better. And that's what you want. The defensive tackles tend to grow up slowly. I did, so I sent this list out.

I immediately got some reaction. There are some people that don't think Trace Smith is maybe as good as his reputation or is maybe not coming off his best year that teams kind of targeted him, did not have a great Super Bowl. Teams kind of targeted him a little bit when Tune was at left tackle. We'll see. I would be shocked if he didn't get big money from someone, but maybe it's not. He was a freaking all pro and he's young and he's played every.

Scarcity drives so much of this. And I mean, look through, I don't know where your next guard is, but there's not. It's, it's pretty rough. Will Fries, I heard some people are pretty big on. I mean, this is a guy with late round pick who didn't play that much until 2023. They'll do solid. It's not going to be improved. He's the next one. And then it's Kevin Jenkins, who played a lot. And your interior guys, Drew Dalman, who I agree, that's probably going to be the top paid center. And all this is pending, obviously, other guys who get cut. And, of course, you add them and update this list regularly. Yes. which is very helpful to those of us who sometimes lose track of things amidst the free agency frenzy.

Yes. I mean, I think if you're just going down, you know, position by position, Darnold is clearly the one quarterback that's going to get paid. Is that number in, does that number begin with a three? Does that number begin with a four? Those are the things that remain to be seen. And obviously the tag situation hovers over that. It's got to start with a four if he's getting tagged because then that means they either would play it

or at least find a team that was willing to. do like two for 70, but guarantee 40, 50 of it, whatever, something like that. There's no running backs that are going to get paid huge money. No. Noggi Harris will get a good solid deal because he's a known commodity running back. I like Aaron Jones, so I ranked him a little ahead, but that's like a one-year deal type of guy that I think is just going to help out your team. He's 30 years old, and you probably need to ease off the carries.

He got one for seven last year, I think? Probably around that same thing. Yeah, J.K. Dobbins is out there. Kenneth Gainwell is at the end of my list, Ty Johnson. and like these are the types of guys that make it to free agency. Okay, you mentioned the quarterback. So let's talk about the other quarterbacks quickly. Justin Fields.

I still think Justin Fields can offer something and was an improved player last year. So because of the quarterback tax, he was my second quarterback, and I put him in the top 25 because I just think that position is that important. Then I went with Russell Wilson. He was around the middle of the 50s. James Winston. I think a high-quality backup is worth more than they're getting on the open markets. So that's why I still rank them pretty high.

Jacobi Brissette, you get into Daniel Jones and Jimmy G is in the mix of guys. There are any, any of those names stand out to you as maybe we'll get a better deal than people think will have, or at least have a starters market. I kind of viewed all those guys as backups, but Fields at least has a little bit more of an upside to him. Yeah, I think that the biggest thing, and this is why I think the biggest story in the NFL over the next, let's call it three weeks is going to be trades because in the draft, let's start there, since we are here in Indianapolis at the

Combine, how many of those guys do you feel confident are going to start right away? You maybe can make an argument to yourself, the Cam Ward Shadour, and if there's somebody else down the line, Quinn yours has played a ton of football. But maybe, all these, there's not even a sure

fire. There's not a Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake, May type where you feel like even Drake needed some time. Although, hot take, I think the longer we get in this process, people going to be like, you know what, Cam Ward's a pretty great quarterback process. But I think he's it. I think he's it. I think he's it. I think he's it. I think he's it. So let's say you get one or two starters out of the rookie class. Now you're into

the free agent class where Sam Darnel will be starting somewhere. Stafford certainly will. In 2025. Well, right. But like of the other guys you're mentioning on your free agent list, Russ, depending where he is. I don't think that he signs anywhere if he's not the starter. So I think Russ starts somewhere. I think Fields is a minimum in a competition type of situation. And beyond that, I don't know that there is anybody else who you're saying that guy's going to step in and become an instant starter. So now let's think about some of the guys.

Maybe Jimmy D in Los Angeles or very specific contextual situations, right. So now let's get into the quarterback, the veteran quarterbacks who currently are under contract that we don't know how this is going to end. Aaron Rogers is technically still under contract, but is going to become a free agent. Do you got him on there? Put on your 101. No, because I just decided. technically has been... He's technically on the team. Maybe they could find a trade for him, so he doesn't make the one-on.

Where would you put Aaron Rogers on this list? Just for the listeners, if you keep going in the top 20, Byron Murphy, again, a lot of good cornerbacks. Drey Greenlaw, Javan, Holland, Nick Bolton, Will Fry's, Reddick. I get to my second quarterback there at Fields. I would put Rogers, I think, ahead of fields. But maybe not. It's hard, though.

I mean... There's some pretty good defensive starters that are available all the way through 30. If you were making this list, where do you put him? I have a great deal. for Aaron Rogers that I covered early in his career. He's on four NFL MVP's. He's one of the most, he's the best practice player I've ever seen. Interesting.

Just the way that he can like manipulate his body angles, like the arm snap and put the ball anywhere. I mean, he is a rare dude. The guy I saw for large chunks last season was not Aaron Rogers. Is that being 41 years old? Is that coming off a torn Achilles? Is that the general

dysfunction that emerged after the firing of Robert Sala? I'd say the last game that he played with all is the head coach was the worst I've ever seen Aaron Rogers play. Just missing wide open dude after wide open dude. So all the other stuff that comes with Aaron and is he doing publicity tours on McAfee and documentaries and everything like all that, that's a real thing. And teams have talked to me about it.

You know, do you want to bring all that in? But it's also just about are you going in on this guy and you're going to get the version who for half the season last year not only wasn't the reason they were winning, but he was a big reason they were losing. I don't know. It's hard to put him in a ranking. He's somewhere in the top 101. It is. Who's number 101, Greg? It's Nick Chubb. I'm glad you mentioned that. This is a big reveal every year. 101 is unique because as the players come on and off the list. You're Deontay Johnson at 100? I did.

I saw a touchscreen. Sorry, I just thought as crazy as season as he has, no one had a worse contract year than Deonti Johnson. and I just feel like, I don't know, the talent's too good. It's so hard to find a wide receiver. I want to stick a minute. But 101 is the one. Aaron's closer in my mind, I'll say this. And don't, don't put this, don't let the aggregate. Do I want to get aggregated?

All right. I would put Aaron closer to 101 than one. Okay, that's fair. I don't think it's crazy to say that if you're just looking at all things considered. How many quarterbacks do you have? Let's say Jimmy G is maybe my last one that made the list. He's somewhere in the 80s or something like that, 70s.

I can't find that. All right. All right. Then Aaron, if you're weighing it by weighing it out in terms of like position value, then he's probably somewhere around the Jimmy G. territory, which would have sounded like blasphemy three years ago. But now it's just, it's the reality that, dude, if you go back through the course of time, I know you're a great football historian, look at the Hall of Fame up to, say, 20 years ago. You go through every player through like the early 2000s, every Hall of Fame quarterback. They all retired at age 37 or 38. They all, every single one, not like around there or below that, like right at 37-38. Like that was the cutoff. There's literally only two quarter, like one quarterback now as old as Aaron Rogers it's ever produced well, and it's Aaron Rogers. I mean, it's Tom Brady.

And the only one that even got a little close was Warren Moon and Drew Breeze got to that like 40-41 season. And that's it. Farve at 39 had a great season in Minnesota. And that's where Rodgers is. Warren Moon played into his early 40s. And then Tom rewrote everything and made it hard on all. these guys like dudes didn't play this long and when errands his great skill was always getting inside

and outside the pocket and making things happen on the run you see whether he either can't do it or doesn't think he should do it that part's not there anymore so then again just to wrap that like the quarterbacks think of the number of guys we got that are available rogers fluid with kirk cousins yes fluid with matthew stafford fluid with derrick car yes so that's four more names that everybody's sitting there going, are they going to be cut? Are they going to get traded? Like, what's going to happen? Good point. Got to push all these guys down. So it's just my point is like, if you're sitting there, like to me, again, that's the biggest storyline over the next three weeks is all these guys are available and it's going to be chaotic

because teams are going to look at free agency and the draft and go, we just need to go get this guy to get us through the year. This is all really good stuff. I want to get to a little more on the 101, but before I do, does that mean Derek Carr is available? you think he's got a $10 million fully guaranteed bonus on I think it's the third or fifth day of the league year and he's got another 30 million that fully vests if he's on the roster the third day of the league year so there's they're going to have to do something if he's going to be a saint they're going to have to address his contract I know kellamore and Derek have met and they've talked about next season and all those things but they're going to have to come to a contractual agreement does that kind of like stafford a different category but

does that work out in New Orleans? Is it ultimately, hey, we're better off with him going someplace else? Like, I would say it's fluid. There has to be a resolution and there's no resolution right now. And when I hear fluid and I don't want to put words in your mouth because you are a responsible reporter and I'm not. I'm just, you know, hosting a show here and offering an analysis. You've been doing it a long time. You're still getting along with it. I don't mean it. It's not irresponsible. But when I hear fluid and I hear them considering moving him, it's almost like the quote, retirement once you're thinking about it, you're already almost there. When I hear that, I think, okay, there's a, there's a decent chance. All those guys, I think, are going to be

playing out. How many late career quarterbacks took, like, substantial pay cuts? Brady was on a year-to-year thing, and you can argue he always took deals that were friendly because he wanted them to continue to put together the roster. Ben Rothesberger took a huge pay cut at the end of his career. It's a different situation. But he does, you know, he's not Brady in New England. He's not Rothesberger in Pittsburgh. He's Derek Carrow got there a couple years ago, and the only game that I saw he played there, he got booed every time he came on the field and they cheered when Tason replaced him.

So, like, there's not a lot of history there. Derek's a great guy, and, you know, if he wants to play this season, I would anticipate that he's going to have options to do that. I just can't sit here and tell you, is it going to be in New Orleans? A couple things. I thought the defense actually was pretty deep on this list.

If you need a three-down linebacker, and I feel like a lot of teams do, a lot of good players. I have Zach Bonn, mentioned at 5. Nick Bolton's at 18. Ernest Jones, who was on three rosters last year, but kind of turned the Seahawks season around, put him in the top 30. Jamie and Sherwood was a guy who I heard from a lot of people. They were like, you have him too low. I put him in the top 35 in the end. Maybe I should have put

them even higher. Dre Greenlaw is in my top 20, a difference maker. Another guy people have, some people have a lot of support for. Kaiser White is in my top 100. Tyrell Dodson, who was with the Dolphin. So I actually think there could be like a little bit of a trend where three down linebackers start getting value. They start bouncing back a little bit like running backs did. I feel like we've now gotten to the point where the analytics or whatever the conventional wisdom from teams is don't pay these linebackers, it's now gotten so low that actually

is like, oh, wait, these are the guys getting picked on in our biggest games. We could have some. And that's why there's actually a decent amount of them. that made it. Well, what happened with the linebackers was that used to be a depreciated position. And then you remember, this is, if all these guys are making it. Well, this is going back like seven years, though. And the Jets did that, maybe it wasn't seven, like five. Mike McCaghanen was the GM. They went like, they basically gave 50% more than the top of the market to C.J. Mosley that convinced him to come to the Jets and gave him 17 million year. Like the top of the market at that point was like 12. And then so all of a sudden, everybody like Bobby Wagner and all these guys were like, I want that.

So then all of a sudden you had all these deals that got done at 17, 18, $18 million. and then there was kind of this course correction back down. I agree. I mean, Zach Bonn will be fascinating because last year that was one of the greatest values in the entire league, a one-year $5 million deal. Can Howie get that done to bring him back? He was a pretty big part of that defense.

I think he's the number one guy. Him and Bolden are clearly the two that everybody's going to be watching and hoping that they bring that back up to the top of the market. Because again, it wasn't that law ago that if you were a free agent linebacker, you were sitting there going, those guys are getting 17-18 million. I want that. Because it seems like the Eagles, who cycled through every year, And yet this, I think if I was making a list of all these Eagles free agents, I think he's the one that they have to just break the bank.

I think they wish they had re-sign Milton Williams earlier. It's a rare, a rare thing that maybe how he would want back. You can't resign everyone. Cornerback, I mentioned, is pretty deep. I mentioned those three at the top, Carlton Davis, D.J. Reed, Charverius. Byron Murphy, too. Byron Murphy is in my top 15, actually. I moved him up with some.

And then guys, I wish I had, I already wish I had a little high. I heard from multiple people, Javon Morg. He's at 22, the safety for the Raiders. Shout out to Mike Mayok, a Mayak pick. That's right. And actually, I heard from more than one person now, it's like, even that's way too low. He should be maybe in your top 10. He is a ascending really good young starter.

I mean, is Javon, is Javon your top safety? He is just the head of Morg. And I got some people saying they would rather have Morg. I think there'd probably be reasonable disagreement. He had a really good year. And then there's a bunch of other guys who came off good years. I mean, Cambinam. Yes. He's in my top 50. He's another one who I think is going to do well.

Guys like Jeremy Chin that kind of get forgotten, he's going to be certainly in the mix. It's just a matter if he's a very specific, he's like a Swiss Army knife. So it's like what's the scheme fit for him. Yeah, there's some safeties. There's a bunch of corners to your point. There's a couple of linebackers. There's a couple of defensive tackles. And then the edge market's also going to be, that's one name. Or do you have Dio Adenabo? He is in my top 40 or so.

He might be one of those ones that's surprised. surprises you. That makes even more than you expect. He was someone I had. I put out that list initially. I know. He's 38 on my list. There's a bunch of, I know you got like Cleo Mac in your top 25. Like there's a bunch of the older guys. Like Chase Young's a free agent once again and Calaisus Campbell. But here's the thing. I don't mind putting some of those guys higher because I do know year after year that those guys end up being great values. Clayus Campbell's been a fantastic value year after year. You're getting a high quality starter for like $10 million. If it's clean back.

So mine is not a prediction of, like, who makes the most money necessarily. It's who is going to be good. But in terms of those young edge rushers, because people are proactive doing deals, the top ones get tagged. This year there isn't anybody who's really in the tag category. You know, Dio Adenabo might be the highest paid edge rusher in this entire group. And I would bet, I mean, you've got a various student audience here. You're killing me.

That's why I want to, now I've got to put him in the top 25. It's too late. Shoshan Wharton was the other one from the Chiefs that just, I think he's going to get paid a lot. A lot of people are watching Chiefs film during the, during the playoffs and he is a good Where'd you have Godwin? I put him in the top 10 just out of respect. I just love me some Chris Godwin.

Also, if and when T gets tagged, like who else are you paying up there? Darius Slayton should do well. Let's go over quickly. I know you got to go. I don't want to push you too hard here and take advantage of your time. You got to go do more live TV.

What a schedule that Pelliserro has. They have him on from like seven or eight in the morning on good morning football. And then he's got to take off the suit. put it back on like eight hours later, and the shirt's kind of wrinkled. You know the part down at the bottom that's just like completely wrinkled when you take it out of your pants the end of the day? I get to put that back in the pants. That's weird.

Okay. Yeah, the wide receiver of market. I have Amari Cooper at 13. Darius Slayton and Mark East Brown at 42 and 43. Diami Brown, who had a good playoff run at 50. Stefan Diggs is at 30. I thought he was settling into a nice role. I know he's an older player, but just out of respect it.

Mike Williams is an interesting guy to me. I think a lot of teams have written them off. I do wonder a year more removed from a torn ACL. I had to give him some respect and put him in the top 75. I agree. I mean, Mike Williams, when he's on, he's always been a streaky player as everybody who's in fantasy knows, including me. I'm like a long-time, long-term Mike Williams owner, and it's like you will get stretches where he's unbelievable. And then there's games where he disappears.

But like, just watching him live, there's very few of those big-bodied vertical speed threat guys. He's one of them, and you're right. I mean, another year coming off of a very serious injury. Right. He'll be more expensive. It's not shocking to me. He took a little bit. He never had...

But Diggs will be coming right back from his ACL as an older player. I still... Those guys, they tend to get like the one-year incentive-laden types of deals. You know, Godwin's coming off an injury too and he's got a prior ACL. He's always on the injury report with the knee.

My belief is still somebody's going to pay him just because they're going to look at the alternatives and say this is clearly the best guy out there. Yeah, at the end of the list, it's not deep. Elijah Moore, I had to... It hurt me, but DeAndre Hopkins and Keenan Allen are towards the back of the... The 101.

Two great players, but not at their best right now. It was a red flag for me that Hopkins could not produce with Patrick Moms. You're not going to have a better situation. Well, Hop just kind of runs his own route tree. And I think that that takes time for the quarterback to get on the same page. Keenan Allen, new place, didn't work out on anybody wanted to in Chicago. He's a good parent. He's 35, I think.

He's older now. Yeah. But, you know, another guy who, he absolutely, he's got a place in the league here. It's just a matter of, like, what do you? 33. Don't try to age this guy. And yes, Nick Chubb at 29 is my 101. I didn't finish my thought earlier, but yes, 101

stays there forever. 1-1, Nick Chub. It's a position of respect, because I know he's coming off these serious injuries, but this is a Hall of Fame talent, Hall of Fame person. So you want to bet on the person. I thought he would represent 101 well. You know, honestly to see the Browns try to get something done. They did the deal with him last year, knowing he was going to miss most of the season.

Do you take one more run? Does he want to go someplace else? It's not going to be a ton of money. He's a bad dude, though, you know, when he's out there. If he can capture some of what he was, look out. He is. Also a bad dude. Tom Pelliserro.

He's made nice with the Enraport. These two guys, they're dominating the insider game. I will say it right now. For Tom Pellasero, appreciate the time. You got it, man. We will be back on Tuesday. Like I mentioned, we're going to have some general manager interviews. Jordan Rod Rigg of the athletic.

will also join me on the show. And yes, it will be coming out earlier in the days. We'll just send it once we get all the news. Because look, it's not just the GMs we're talking to. The coaches, the GMs for every single team are going to be at these podiums over the next couple of days. A lot of news coming out of that. Until then, yeah, look, when we're back in Indianapolis,

it almost feels like football is back. But no, it's still the regular season for now. See you, Tuesday. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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